260: An era without saints!? (Fifty-nine)

Gu Zhan successfully overcame the Venerable Tribulation and stepped into the Human Venerable Realm.

Gu Yun looked at him, a gratified smile appearing on his face.

However, this was only the beginning.

"Your talent is not bad."

Gu Yun spoke, his voice calm, "But if you want to go further, you must choose the right path."

He explained the benefits of the "dao seed path" to Gu Zhan in detail.

Gu Yun's own primordial dao fruit had reached two thousand zhang, and its Foundation was so profound that it was far beyond what ordinary Venerables could compare to.

He knew deeply how immense the influence of a dao seed that resonated with oneself could be on the future.

Gu Zhan listened with fascination, his Battle Intent soaring.

However, when Gu Yun searched through the countless divine seeds treasured by the Gu Family, he could not find one suitable for Gu Zhan.

Those seeds were good, but they always lacked a sliver of resonance with Gu Zhan's "Primordial Chaos War Body."

"Stay here and properly stabilize your Realm."

Leaving these words behind, Gu Yun left the Gu Family alone.

He was going to the various Forbidden Grounds of the Five Domains to find a supreme dao seed for Gu Zhan.

It was not to the Life Forbidden Zone; that place was a death trap, and even the current Gu Yun dared not step foot there easily.

Rather, it was to ancient secret lands filled with crises, yet also accompanied by supreme Opportunities.

Time flowed by, and in the blink of an eye, fifty years passed.

In these fifty years, Gu Yun traveled across the three lands and two seas of the Eastern Domain, stepped into the Myriad Beast Nest of the Southern Border, and even fought a Puppet guarding a Buddhist treasure in the ancient Buddhist ruins of the Western Desert for three days and three nights.

He added new wounds to his body, but his aura became increasingly refined.

Finally, deep within a Forbidden Ground in the Northern Plains called "Dragon Burial Abyss," he found an ancient Dragon egg surrounded by Chaos Qi.

The Dragon egg had long lost its life force, but when it touched Gu Yun's primordial chaos violet qi, it erupted with unyielding Battle Intent, perfectly resonating with Gu Zhan's Physique.

This was it.

When Gu Yun returned to the Gu Family with this dao seed, Gu Zhan, who had been waiting for a long time, had eyes full of fanaticism and excitement.

He did not fail Gu Yun's expectations and immediately began his seclusion.

The path of the dao seed was incomparably arduous.

Another fifty years passed.

On this day, deep within the Gu Family ancestral grounds, an aura of a newly emerged Venerable soared into the sky.

Gu Zhan had successfully condensed his dao fruit and stepped into the Human Venerable Realm.

During this century, Gu Yun had not rested either.

He traveled through various lands of Opportunity in the Five Domains, constantly polishing himself and devouring all usable energy between heaven and earth.

His primordial dao fruit had also grown from two thousand zhang to two thousand three hundred zhang.

Yet, he still had no confidence in becoming a Saint.

This world felt too oppressive to him, like a cage that was constantly shrinking, limiting the upper limit of all living beings.

No one knew the worries of this number one powerhouse of the current generation.

Gu Yun returned to the Gu Family ancestral grounds and began a long period of seclusion.

Five hundred years later.

When he came out of seclusion again, his primordial dao fruit had already reached a massive size of three thousand zhang.

But this was still not enough.

Gu Zhan was also no longer what he used to be.

He honed himself on the Immortal Battlefield, and relying on that Physique born for battle, he advanced triumphantly, his cultivation having reached the Earth Venerable Realm.

Time was the most worthless thing in this withering small world.

Another three hundred years passed.

Gu Yun's dao fruit slowly grew to three thousand five hundred zhang.

However, his brows furrowed even deeper.

He could clearly feel that the growth of his dao fruit had touched an invisible barrier.

This was not the limit of his dao seed, but rather that this world could no longer nurture stronger power.

At the same time, a strong sense of crisis surged in his heart.

He looked at Gu Zhan, who was in seclusion.

Gu Zhan's aura had climbed to the peak of the Earth Venerable Realm.

He could trigger the Heavenly Venerable Tribulation at any moment.

Gu Yun's heart sank.

He knew that with the Heavenly Dao's resentment toward him, Gu Zhan's Heavenly Venerable Tribulation would surely be unprecedentedly terrifying in its power.

With Gu Zhan's current strength, it would be a certain death with no chance of survival.

And he himself did not have even a shred of confidence that he could protect him completely.

He had already prepared to assault the Saint Realm.

For this step, he also had no confidence.

"I owe the Gu Family too much."

"I cannot let him perish along with me."

Gu Yun made a difficult decision.

He would seal away Gu Zhan, the future hope of the Gu Family.

When Gu Zhan was awakened from his seclusion and heard this decision, he was stunned.

"Master! Why?!"

Gu Zhan was confused, and even more so, unwilling.

"I am willing to share life and death with Master! Even if I die, I want to die on the path of charging forward!"

He looked at Gu Yun, his eyes resolute.

Gu Yun did not explain.

He just looked at Gu Zhan calmly, his eyes carrying a hint of apology and an unquestionable resolve.

"Sometimes, living requires more courage than dying."

"You are the last hope of the Gu Family; I will not allow anything to happen to you."

As his voice fell, Gu Yun did not hesitate anymore.

He took a step forward, and the terrifying pressure of his three thousand five hundred zhang dao fruit descended with a boom.

Gu Zhan was imprisoned by an irresistible force, unable to move no matter how much he urged his dao fruit.

"Master! No!"

He let out a roar of sorrow and indignation.

However, Gu Yun just raised his hand, and in his palm, a piece of top-grade divine source that had been prepared long ago emitted a soft light, slowly swallowing Gu Zhan's figure.

In the final moment before his consciousness fell into slumber, what Gu Zhan saw was Gu Yun's face—calm, yet carrying a trace of loneliness.

From then on, in the current generation, Gu Yun was all alone.

...

Another five hundred years passed.

In these five hundred years, Gu Yun traveled throughout the Five Domains and saw the last scenery of this withering small world.

His Dao Heart became increasingly calm.

His primordial dao fruit finally reached the terrifying Realm of four thousand zhang.

On this day, he stood at the peak of the Cloud Top Heavenly Palace and looked up at the sky.

He knew he could not wait any longer.

It was time to settle things.

Gu Yun no longer suppressed his aura.

Boom!

A terrifying aura, far exceeding that of a Heavenly Venerable, swept across the entire Five Domains with the Gu Family as the center.

Above the firmament, violet qi billowed for ninety thousand li, and golden lotuses of the Dao emerged from thin air.

This was the sign of becoming a Saint!

In an instant, all the ancient existences sleeping in the Five Domains were awakened by this phenomenon.

"What... kind of phenomenon is this?"

"Could it be... that someone is going to defy the heavens and become a Saint in this Dharma-Ending Age?!"

"Who on earth is going to defy the heavens and become a Saint in this withering small world?"

The Prodigies sealed in divine sources and their Dao Protectors all looked toward the direction of the Central Plains in shock.

Some old monsters who had lived for who knows how many years dug out that long-forgotten name from the dust of their memories.

"I fear it is... that Venerable Yun of the Gu Family."

The Cultivators of the new era had only heard this name in legends.

They were confused.

"Why did this existence not choose to be sealed?"

"Can he succeed?"

Countless gazes pierced through the Void Realm and focused on the Gu Family in the Central Plains.

They wanted to witness a miracle.

Or, witness the end of a legend.

Just at this moment.

Above the firmament, the pitch-black tribulation clouds condensed once again.

But this time, there was no thunder within the tribulation clouds.

There was only a gray eye that seemed to have been condensed from the malice of the entire world.

The Heavenly Dao was attacking.

It used the purest "power of the Dharma-Ending Age" to transform into chains of gray order, wanting to completely crush and erase Gu Yun, this "anomaly."

Gu Yun let out a long whistle and soared into the sky.

"Punish Heaven!"

However, facing the malice of this entire withering small world, his supreme Sword Intent, which was enough to wound an Earth Venerable, actually appeared so pale.

The sword light shattered.

The chains of order wrapped around layer by layer, tightly binding his primordial dao fruit.

An unprecedented feeling of weakness.

The Five Domains were filled with sighs.

"In the end... has he failed after all?"

"This is the cruelty of a withering small world; it does not allow the birth of any miracles."

Watching that legend about to fall right there.

At this very last moment, Gu Yun made a decision that no one could have predicted.

He actually burned the Origin of his dao fruit, forcibly breaking free from the restraints for an instant.

Then, turning into a streak of light, he fled crazily toward the direction of the Northern Plains without looking back.

His goal was clear and insane.

The Burial Ground of Immortals!